News from Elkins Pointe Middle School Edition 2013-2014 Issue 18

February 7, 2014

Good afternoon, Titans!

Well we had a nice, long five-day week. We started off the week with a beautiful thank you breakfast provided by our PTSA. Additionally our PTSA helped us throw two Honors Breakfasts this week. We are so grateful for all of their hard work and to business partners Chick-fil-A Roswell TownCenter and CiCi's Pizza for such wonderful events. The teachers and students worked hard to make up for lost time due to the storm. Yearbook students are working hard to put the finishing touches on this year's edition, and we are looking forward to a weekend of rest. With the snow storm last week, there is a bit more information than usual, as well as some adjustments to dates/times for meetings. Be sure to review carefully.

This week at EPMS

Celebrations:

Congratulations again to Emily Gallagher, our spelling bee winner and representative at tomorrow's Fulton County Schools Spelling Bee. We wish her luck, not that she'll need it!
Although the snowstorm cut the 7th Grade basketball season short by 2 games, the Athletic Director, Rawlings Johnson, worked very hard to reschedule the game against Webb Bridge. The boys and girls both fought hard and showed great determination, ending the season representing Elkins well. We're looking forward to kicking off our 8th Grade Basketball Season on Feb. 12th at Ridgeview MS.
On February 6th, ten 8th grade Japanese students were inducted into the prestigious Japanese National Honor Society (JNHS), sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ). EPMS is one of approximately 150 schools from 30 states in the nation belonging to the Pre-College JNHS Chapters. In order to qualify, students have to maintain all A's in Japanese classes for two years, as well as A's and B's in other subjects. The students inducted received Certificates of Excellence. EPMS will be recognized on the AATJ website and in the upcoming AATJ Newsletter as one of the JNHS schools of 2014.

Congratulations to Teacher Ana Hale, who will serve as the DEN Star Ambassador for Fulton County Schools with Discovery Education. This program is designed to build capacity by creating site ambassadors, enhance awareness of site administrators, increase the strategic use of digital media, and fully support teachers in their implementation of Discovery Education.
On Saturday, January 25th, the Elkins Pointe Science Olympiad team competed at the highly competitive JC Booth Invitational. Nationally ranked teams from several states attend this tournament. Please congratulate all our Science Olympiad students who performed very well. Congratulations to the following students who placed in the following events:

Shaan Gill/ Alex Gonzalez	5th Place in Metric Mastery
Shaan Gill/ Andrew Lang	4th place in Shock Value
Jim Killian/ Mitesh Naik	4th place in Road Scholar
Andrew Lang/ Andrew Ramsager	1st Place in Write It/ Do IT!!
Overall, the Elkins Pointe Blue team placed 10th out of 50 teams and 6th out of the Georgia teams. This result showcases truly outstanding effort.

Cassandra ("Cassie") Manrique from 8th grade represented our school at the FCS Technology Competition at Westlake H.S. on January 25th. This is her third year that she has brought back a first place win for our school and once again she moves on to the state competition to represent our county.

Be in the Know:

Fulton County School System and the Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness will conduct the mandated annual Scoliosis Screening Program at Elkins Pointe for sixth and eighth grade students Tuesday, February 18. Information letters will be going home next week. If you do not want your child screened, you must complete the requested information on the letter and return it to school. Students who do not have a letter returned with parent signature will be screened. Students will receive the letter from his or her connection teacher.
Elkins Pointe presents... Parents' Night: Success Through Standardized Assessments on February 25th. Standardized testing can be so confusing, from the CRCT in middle school, to the EOCT and the GHSWT assessments in high school. What do all of these assessments mean, and how do I prepare my student to do well on each one? Our Parent Math Night has been rescheduled to March 20that 6:00pm here at EPMS. Click here to learn more about the workshops.
IMPORTANT: There are new immunization requirements beginning in the 2014-2015 school year. Effective July 1, 2014 children born on or after January 1, 2002 attending 7th grade and for new entrants into a Georgia school grades 8th through 12th must have received one dose of Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) vaccine and one dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine prior to entering school. Please click here for more details and contact Ms. Ellen Walsh at walshe@fultonschools.org if you have questions.
The 9th Grade Parent Night @ RHS has been rescheduled for Thursday, Feb 20th at 5:30pm. It will take place immediately prior to our special programs night that starts at 6:30. The 9/10 Parent night is geared towards current 9th and 10th grade students and parents. For rising 9th grade parents, admin will host an evening on April 22nd for tours, Q&A, and a counselor will present on "High School101."
2/24 8:30am-4:00pm and 6:00pm-8:00pm - RHS Counselors will be at EPMS to Register Rising RHS 9th Graders; Parents Welcome. Students will meet with RHS counselors during their Science class to select ELECTIVES. Parents who would like to attend the meeting, please arrive at the beginning of your student's Science class. For parents who cannot attend during Science, the RHS counselors are meeting with students and parents 6-8pm on a first come, first served basis.

Community News:

Relay For Life of Roswell Kick-Off: All are invited to the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life of Roswell Kick-Off on Tuesday, February 11th,7-9 pm at Andretti Indoor Karting & Games. Come to learn more about the Relay and how you can be involved in this incredible community event to fight cancer. Does your school, church, neighborhood, or other group have a team set up in the Relay yet? Are you a cancer survivor? Are you interested in sponsorship? Relay For Life is great fun for a great cause, so join us at Kick-Off to learn more. The actual Relay For Life of Roswell is scheduled for Saturday, April 26th, noon-midnight at Roswell High School. Mark your calendars now so you'll be there with us to celebrate those who have battled cancer, remember those we have lost, and fight back against this dreaded disease. For more information, visit www.roswellrelayforlife.org or contact event co-chair Katha Stuart at jkstuart@bellsouth.net or 404-660-9659.
Registration is open for the Roswell Youth Softball Program. Registration is currently ongoing and can be accessed at www.roswellgov.com and then click on the link to register for a program. If there are any questions you can contact Joel St. Vrain with the city's recreation department.

Special Business Partner Announcement:

In addition to our fundraiser with Crossville Veterinary Hospital, I am pleased to announce that we are also partnering with White Sensei of the Crabapple Martial Arts Academy in an effort to raise funds for Elkins Pointe Middle School as well. A portion of the tuition for new students will come to EPMS. Click here for more details. I've had the pleasure of meeting with Mr. White and am looking forward to this partnership, not just for financial benefit but for the unique programs he can offer our students.

Upcoming Dates (Note Changes):

February 11 - EPMS Orchestra participates in Large Group Performance Evaluation - Good Luck!
February 13- Progress Reports Come Home
February 14-17 - Staff and Student Holiday
February 18 - Scoliosis Screening (6th and 8th grade only)
February 19 - Linda Schultz Community Meeting, 9:30am @ Roswell North ES
February 19 - Career Day (8th grade only)
February 20 - 5:30pm RHS Parent Night @ RHS
February 20 - Chorus Pre-Evaluation Concert @ 6:30pm
February 24 - RHS counselors hold appointments with students re: registration @ EPMS
February 25 - Parent Night @ EPMS (How to achieve success with Standardized Testing)

And finally, thank you once again for all of your support during the Snow Storm. We learned a lot together, and we will be able to improve our practices in the future. Thankfully all students and staff made it home safely, and let's just hope that Mother Nature is nice to us for the remainder of this Winter!

Have a great weekend, Titans!

Your partner in education,